About This Tuning: C7 Drone Open Tuning

This distinctive guitar tuning, often associated with the innovative fingerstyle guitarist Peter Gergely, offers a remarkably rich and resonant harmonic foundation. It is essentially an Open C7 tuning, meaning that when all strings are played open, they form a complete C dominant 7th chord. The arrangement creates a powerful drone effect, particularly with the unison high C strings, making it an excellent choice for blues, jazz, and intricate fingerstyle compositions that require a strong harmonic base.

Technical Analysis:

The open strings spell out the notes E2, A#3 (enharmonically Bb3), G2, C4, C4, C4. When combined, these notes clearly outline a C dominant 7th chord (C-E-G-Bb). The G2 and E2 provide the 5th and 3rd respectively, while the A#3 (Bb3) gives the crucial dominant 7th. The three unison C4 strings reinforce the root, creating a bright and shimmering resonance and a powerful drone.

Chords and Playability:

• Open C7: The entire tuning forms a C7 chord, providing an immediate and powerful sound for blues, funk, and jazz. This makes playing a variety of styles with a dominant 7th feel very intuitive.
• C Major: By simply muting or avoiding the 5th string (A#), you can easily achieve a full and resonant C Major chord (E-G-C-C-C), allowing for transitions between dominant and major tonalities.
• Barre Chords: A significant advantage of this tuning is the ease of playing other dominant 7th chords. By barring across any fret, you can effortlessly transpose the C7 shape up the neck. For example, a barre at the 2nd fret will yield a D7 chord (D-F#-A-C-C-C). This makes navigating dominant 7th progressions incredibly fluid.
• Drone and Melodic Potential: The three unison C strings provide an ideal drone for melodic exploration, allowing for intricate arpeggios, moving bass lines, and harmonic embellishments without losing the central harmonic pull.

How to Tune:

To achieve the C7 Drone Open Tuning, adjust your guitar strings as follows. Please exercise caution, especially with larger semitone movements, as these can significantly affect string tension and may require a different string gauge for optimal playability and to prevent string breakage or excessive buzzing.

• String 6 (Low E): Tune to E2. Keep as is; no change (0 semitones).
• String 5 (A): Tune to A#3. Tune up 1 semitone.
• String 4 (D): Tune to G2. Tune down 7 semitones. Caution: This is a substantial drop in pitch. Consider using a heavier gauge string for optimal tension, intonation, and to prevent excessive buzzing.
• String 3 (G): Tune to C4. Tune up 5 semitones. Caution: This is a significant rise in pitch. Consider using a lighter gauge string to avoid excessive tension and potential string breakage.
• String 2 (B): Tune to C4. Tune up 1 semitone.
• String 1 (High E): Tune to C4. Tune down 4 semitones. Caution: This is a notable drop in pitch. Consider a slightly heavier gauge string for better tension, tone, and feel.

The open strings are tuned as follows:

• String 6: E2 (Low E)
• String 5: A#3 (A sharp / Bb)
• String 4: G2
• String 3: C4
• String 2: C4
• String 1: C4 (High C)